Personal thoughts, opinions and comments of an independent consultant, political analyst and historian, who lives in Ireland but is aware of the whole world.

28 January 2008

Beauty and the Beast

This morning someone from abroad told me that Ireland is a beautiful country. I was very pleased to hear that, since it certainly is. As I was not born here and chose the country as my homeland a long time ago, I can probably see it even more strongly than those who have never been anywhere else.

But, as the poet has it, where there is beauty, there is also usually some kind of a beast about. In Ireland's case this part is currently played by Mary Harney, our Minister for Health. She must be the most unpopular politician in the country, and this has nothing to do with her being a woman. It is a combination of her abrasive personality and her disastrous policies that has put her in the emerald doghouse for a long time.

Like many bad politicians she had a good start by being rewarded for failure. When she made a bit of academic history by becoming the first female auditor of the then male-dominated Historical Society at Dublin's Trinity College, she came to the attention of Jack Lynch, then leader of the Fianna Fáil (FF) party. In the 1977 general election she stood as a FF candidate, but was not elected. Instead of going home and doing what most unelected political candidates do - be disappointed for a while, then pick themselves up and try again next time - Mary Harney, then an inexperienced young teacher, got a taste for power and cronyism. Jack Lynch, who had won the election and become Taoiseach, made his protégée a Senator (as one of the eleven appointed by An Taoiseach). At the age of 24 she was the youngest person ever to become a member of SeanadÉireann (the upper house of our parliament) and still holds this record.

In 1981, with some experience and a lot more support from her party, she was elected to DáilÉireann (the lower house of our parliament) in the Dublin South-West constituency, having had her first electoral success already two years earlier, when she won a seat on Dublin City Council.After only four years on the back benches, she became a leading member of the so-called "Gang of 22" who voted in favour of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985 and was expelled from Fianna Fáil. The following year she became founder member of a new party, called Progressive Democrats (PD), under the leadership of former FF minister Desmond O'Malley. Almost all of the early PD members were disgruntled ex-FF politicians who had issues with the abrasive and authoritarian style of the then party leader and Taoiseach Charles Haughey.

It came therefore as a surprise to many when in 1989 the Progressive Democrats joined FF in a coalition government under Haughey's leadership. This move brought Mary Harney her first bit of real power, as she was appointed Minister of State with responsibility for Environmental Protection. In this capacity she banned the sale of bituminous coal and thus can claim the credit for having eliminated the capital city's infamous smog.But the coalition with Haughey was not an easy one, and in late 1992 the PDs withdrew from the government, which also marked the end of Haughey's political career. (After the following general election FF, under their new leader Albert Reynolds, formed a new coalition with the Labour Party.)

In February 1993 Mary Harney was appointed deputy leader of the Progressive Democrats and succeeded Desmond O'Malley as party leader in October. This was probably the turning point in her personal and political attitudes. Like many women with political power, she began to show a certain toughness and became more and more abrasive, as if she had to prove that she was even harder than the men.Following the hard fought 1997 general election and lengthy negotiations, the PDs entered once again into coalition government with Fianna Fáil, now led by the former Finance Minister Bertie Ahern. Harney was appointed as the first female Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

In this new role she began rapidly to make political enemies and to become highly unpopular in large parts of the Irish population, mainly because of her extreme capitalist ideology and anti-union attitudes. She became the main champion of privatisation of public services and utility companies and is responsible for much of the turmoil these measures caused (and still cause) in contemporary Ireland. At the same time she substantially reduced government support for the community employment scheme and various social support networks, forcing many of them to close due to lack of funding.There were many occasions when she showed a preference for private over national interests. In December 2001, to name just one significant example, she used a government aircraft (50% funded by the EU Commission and meant to be used exclusively for maritime surveillance) to fly to County Leitrim (in the far north-west of Ireland) to officially open a friend's off-licence (alcohol shop). When the story surfaced, she was forced to apologise and admit that she had abused her position, but that was it and no further consequences followed.

In the 2002 general election, riding on the unexpected economic boom Ireland had enjoyed since 1995 (when both FF and PD were in opposition), the Progressive Democrats doubled their parliamentary seats from four to eight and the ruling coalition continued, with Harney retaining her previous positions. However, a year later she was reported to "seek new challenges" and looking for a new department. In the cabinet reshuffle of September 2004 she was appointed Minister for Health and Children, while remaining Tánaiste. (Ireland must be the only country in the world where a clinically obese person can become responsible for the health service. In all other countries I know this would be seen as very bad PR, to say the least.)Soon it became clear why she had sought this change, when she embarked on a ruthless policy of privatisation in the health sector, just as she had done in the field of other public services before. This has led to a disastrous two-tier system, which critics call quite fittingly an apartheid health service. And while waiting lists for treatment grow ever longer and patients have to wait long hours on hospital trolleys before being seen by a doctor, Mary Harney is unrepentant and keeps attending numerous opening ceremonies for new private hospitals and health facilities.

In March 2006, 16 months after Harney took office as Minister for Health, the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) announced that a record number of 455 people were waiting on hospital trolleys in Ireland on one single day. Two months later the INO unanimously passed a motion of no confidence in Mary Harney, accusing her of being negative and antagonistic towards nurses.In June 2006 an official statistic ranked the Irish health service as the second least "consumer-friendly" in Europe, coming 25th out of 26 countries, ahead only of Lithuania.And in July the Ireland on Sunday newspaper reported that Harney's mother, Mrs. Sarah Harney, jumped a queue of two emergency cases to receive hip surgery at the Adelaide and Meath Hospital in Tallaght (a suburb of Dublin).

Also in 2006 Harney introduced "risk equalisation" into the Irish healthcare market, which was hugely resisted by the private British health insurer BUPA . Despite High Court proceedings, the controversial law was upheld and this has forced BUPA out of the Irish healthcare market (BUPA Ireland has since been bought by the private Irish owned Quinn Group). In January 2007 a leaked memo from Harney stated that the planned Cancer Care Strategy, due for completion in 2011, would not be delivered on time. The list could go on and on, but I don't want to make this entry a never-ending story.In an Irish Times poll in December 2006 60% of the respondents said that the appointment of Ms. Harney to the position of Minister for Health had not led to any improvement in the health service.

Having meanwhile come under pressure from inside her own party, Mary Harney resigned as PD leader and Tánaiste on September 7th, 2006. She was succeeded in both positions by her deputy, the then Minister for Justice Michael McDowell, a man even more abrasive and arrogant than Harney herself, but like her a died-in-the-wool supporter of plain capitalism, privatisation and social service cuts.

Subsequently the Progressive Democrats got the voters' answer in the 2007 general election. Of their eight TDs (members of parliament) only two were re-elected (and with drastically reduced voter numbers). Unfortunately Harney was one of the two, just about scraping back into the Dáil, while McDowell and all other leading party officials lost their seats.Nevertheless the decimated and almost wiped out PDs, now again with Harney as the "acting" leader (because no one else wants the job), were once again brought back into the government by Bertie Ahern and Mary Harney retains her portfolio as Minister for Health. Of all the many scandals the current government has produced, this is probably the largest and most significant, and a clear slap in the face of the Irish electorate.

It is unlikely that Bertie Ahern will ever sack his strange protégée and former deputy, but given the trouble he is in himself in recent months it might not be his decision for too much longer. If Mary Harney has any common sense and decency left in herself, she might well consider her position and gently jump before she might be pushed by the next Taoiseach. In six weeks she will be celebrating her 55th birthday, and perhaps this might be an appropriate occasion to step down after more than three decades in politics. If nothing else, the Irish people - myself included - would be grateful to her.

2 comments:

you are so right, where there is beauty there usually is a beast. Now i myself prefer Robert Burns description of the running of the deer in the highlands. Deer season should be considered criminal and those that harm people well......

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You are indeed most welcome to my humble weblog, to which I post each day a personal column, reflecting my views, thoughts and opinions of the day. Often the entries will be inspired by events and news from Ireland or abroad. Having lived in various countries before I grew solid roots on the Emerald Isle, I take note of many things that happen on the planet.And I have views and opinions.Please be my guest, read and think, and feel free to leave your personal comments as well. They are as welcome as you are here.On the right you also find some additional information, related to Ireland and other matters, for example books I recommend. From time to time I also have opinion polls and appreciate your participation. And if you like what you read, you can subscribe to my weblog (using the box below) and will receive every new entry automatically.And in case you want to find a specific word or subject - on the world-wide web or on one of my two weblogs - then you don't even have to leave the site. Scroll down to the very bottom and you will find a perfect search engine, powered by Google.

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FACTS ABOUT IRELAND

The Emerald Isle

(also known as Ireland) has been inhabited by humans for at least 10,000 years. This image shows the topographical structure of the island, which was until recent times very important and decided in many cases where the people would build their settlements.The oldest surviving monuments in Ireland date from megalithic times between 5000 and 3500 BCE. About 200 BCE the Celts, familiar with the use of iron, conquered the island.

Around 1000 years later Viking raiders from Norway appeared, and in 914 they built the first city in Ireland, calling it "Vadra Fjord" (safe anchorage), which later became Waterford.In 1169 this city was the first to be taken by the Normans, when they invaded and conquered large parts of the island, including the capital Dublin.

In later centuries Ireland became more known for emigrants, as famine, poverty and oppression drove people out into the world. (About 45 million Americans have Irish ancestry.)However, since the unexpected economic boom (known as the "Celtic Tiger"), which we had for about a dozen years, there are now many immigrants on the Emerald Isle, coming from almost everywhere and turning the once quiet and introvert island into a vibrant international community.

Unfortunately the boom turned out to be only a bubble, based on false hopes, speculation and criminal gambling by reckless bankers. So now we are in a deep economic recession, which is made even worse by our current incompetent government.What will happen to Ireland in the future is hard to say, but it all will depend on making the right political, economic, and social decisions.

There is a realistic chance that Ireland could become a major producer of clean energy, and proposals have been presented already to the government and the public. It will now depend on our politicians to make the right decisions. If they do, then we can have a bright and promising future. If not, Ireland is in danger of becoming a poor third-world country.

Ireland's Countryside

is predominantly green. It is said that there are actually forty different shadesofgreen on the island, but few people go around counting.The landscape is rolling, with drumlins, hills and river valleys, and one is never far from the sea in Ireland.Ancient Stones like the one on this photo can be found in many parts of Ireland. They are the remnants of the old religion, which is once again growing on the Emerald Isle.

Ireland's National Flag

was first introduced during the uprising of 1848 in Waterford, Ireland's oldest city, by Thomas Francis Meagher, a native of the city who later rose to prominence as a Union General (and leader of the famous Irish Brigade) during the American Civil War (1861-65).An Bhratach Náisiúnta, as she is called in Irish, is a vertical (revolutionary) tricoleur, inspired by and modeled on the flag of the French Republic.The colours are green, white and orange. They represent the land and the predominantly Catholic nationalist majority (green), the protestant Anglo-Irish minority (orange), and the peace (white) that exists between them.

The flag was used by nationalists in private since 1848 and flown in public again during the Easter Rising of 1916 in Dublin. In 1919 she was adopted as the official flag of the Irish Republic.

Uachtarán na hÉireann

Prof. Mary McAleese is the 8th President of the Republic of Ireland. First elected to the office in 1997 as a representative of the majority government party Fianna Fáil, she is now in her second seven-year term, to which she was elected without opposition in 2004. She is the second female President of the Republic and currently also the longest-serving elected female head of state in the world. Born in Belfast, she encountered the Northern troubles first-hand and her Catholic family was forced out of their house by "loyalist" terrorists. After studying law in Belfast and Dublin, she qualifed as a barrister. In 1975 she was appointed a professor in the legal faculty of Trinity College, Dublin and in 1979 joined RTÉ television as a journalist and presenter. Since 1981 she combined both areas of work, but returned in 1987 to Belfast, as Director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies at Queen's University, which appointed her Pro-Vice Chancellor in 1994.

An Taoiseach

Brian Cowen, TD is the 12th Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland and the 7th leader of the majority government party Fianna Fáil. In 1984, aged 24, he was elected to the Dáil in the constituency his father Bernhard, a local publican, had represented before. After 8 years in parliament, Cowen was appointed Minister for Labour in 1992. Since then he served as Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, Minister for Health and Children, and - from 2000 to 2004 - as the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Since 2005 Brian Cowen was Minister for Finance, and since 2007 also Tanaiste (Deputy Prime Minister). When Taoiseach Bertie Ahern declared his resignation on April 2nd, 2008, Cowen was elected unopposed as the new leader of Fianna Fáil on April 9th. On May 7th, 2008 Dáil Eireann elected him Taoiseach. He leads a coalition government inherited from Bertie Ahern and supported by the Green Party and four independent TDs. The now 48-year-old, sometimes referred to as 'Biffo', is married and father of two daughters. A keen Gaelic football fan, he also continues to be president of Clara GAA club.

The Parliament

of Ireland is known as the Houses of the Oireachtas. The House of Deputies (currently 166) is called Dáil Éireann, while 60 Senators form Seanad Éireann, the Senate. Both meet at Leinster House on Dublin's Kildare Street (above). The former city residence of the Duke of Leinster was sold in 1815 to the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) which added two new wings, to accomodate the National Library and the National Museum. After the formation of the Irish Free State in 1922 the central part was chosen as the provisional parliament chamber (until some proper building would be found). Despite plans to turn the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, into the seat of the Oireachtas, it never happened. So Leinster House is still at the heart of Irish politics. And when Irish architect James Hoban designed the White House in Washington, D.C., he modeled it on Leinster House.

A few words about me

Having been born into an old European family (with 75% of the genes Celtic) I learned early that history and traditions are very important. After a quite turbulent childhood and youth, spent in different countries on three continents, I joined the Navy, served for many years in ships, other commands, and became a historian.
After leaving the Navy I worked in a museum and national monument, taught in school and college, edited a magazine and worked as journalist and broadcaster. Now I earn my crust as an independent consultant and analyst. In my scarce spare time I am involved in various social activities and charity work, write and read a lot, and sometimes even find time for painting.
My house is old and small, and I share it with a cat. Living a simple Spartan life, I eat vegetarian food and do not enjoy alcohol and most entertainments.
Life is too short to be wasted on fripperies. Every day is needed to do one's share - no matter how small it might be - to save the planet and its living creatures.

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The HSE, as seen by "Green Ink"

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